Hopeless Geek

Stream Energy’s automated billing system is a pain in the ass. For various reasons, including price, I switched away from Stream when my contract was up. I scheduled the move for the exact day the contract was finished. So, of course, their automated system fines me $250 because someone used a <= rather than a < somewhere.

I tried calling them when I discovered it, but the hold time was 45 minutes. I tried another day and it was 25. Now I’m trying again and it’s been 33 minutes out of a guestimated “38 minute” wait from the start of the call.

The hold music is Sting’s “Brand New Day” on repeat. Not the album, the song. Just the one song. It’s a shame, I used to like this song.

The fun part is that the hold message keeps saying that there’s an option to have the system call me back when my place in the queue is ready, but it never actually offers this service. The one time it did, the very first time I called, it called me back on time and then dropped the call on me. I suppose it’s for the best that it didn’t offer it.

Well, 40 minutes in I get to talk to someone and try to explain the situation and she’s a little flummoxed and puts me on hold to review everything. She came back and verified that it was a mistake and put in to have the fee removed. I still have to follow up to make sure that it happens, though. Bleck.

Seriously, why have systems that automatically charge you like this and not audit them in some fashion to avoid mistakes like this? This is a pretty simple one.

Though, Direct Energy isn’t much better. They told me the first bill was going to be two months’ worth of charges and that I could pre-pay a standard month on the website to prepare for the first bill, so I logged in and put some money towards it. Now I have a $100 credit on the account … and the actual bill has posted. Yes, not only did the pre-payment not apply, but the amount of the bill isn’t even applying to the account yet. From three weeks ago.

This is some sad, sad shit, though. When I called them they said that the one bill they did manage to make was “a little high” and was sent in for review, so it was essentially pulled off the account (hence the credit). Then the other shoe: I haven’t been properly billed since July 7. Think about that. It’s late October. When I get the bill, it’ll have four months of charges on it. Texas summer charges.

To their credit, the agent said that when they issue multi-month bills they allow the person as much time to pay it as the bill was for. So a four-month bill could be paid over four months. Also, I can throw money at them now to soften the blow so that when the bills actually hit all the credits are applied (which I think is my primary plan here).

Go deregulation! The market is working! I can change providers whenever I want and to whomever I want! Just one problem: they all appear to suck, just in different ways.